A new book charting the history and future challenge of access in Higher Education has been launched at the University of Bolton, Greater Manchester.

The Challenge of Change: Access and Opportunity in Mass Higher Education has been written by Professor Jim Nyland, Academic Director at Bolton, Professor Emeritus David Davies and the Honourable Verity Firth AM and focuses on UK and Australian universities.

The book is sponsored by Engagement Australia (EA), a body which engages universities with society in Australasia.

All three authors are longstanding members of EA and have worked together over the last decade contributing to journal articles, position papers and policy debates around the twin pillars of access and impact which have shaped universities in Australia and Britain throughout the 21st century.

Dr Greg Walker, Pro Vice Chancellor, introduces Professors Davies and Nyland at the book launch event (part of the TIRI Conference)

Access once referred to special courses for adults designed to secure access to universities for people who had been denied chances to study earlier in life.

Key themes explored in the book include the growth and change in Higher Education, persisting inequality, meritocracy and elite formation and the public good.

Professor Nyland, who has worked at senior levels in both the UK and Australia, where he was Associate Vice Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University and Chair of Engagement Australia, said: “I am extremely proud to have launched our new book at the university, which is regarded as leading university in the area of access, student experience and student engagement – all key elements of our book.

Professor Jim Nyland speaking in the Deane Lecture Theatre at the University of Bolton, Greater Manchester, about his contribution to the book and its findings

“Access is understood as part of a historical and on-going debate about how learning and education can change lives and the societies in which we live.

Professor Davies is Professor Emeritus at the University of Derby and has worked and published widely in the field of access. The Honourable Verity Firth AM is Professor and Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of New South Wales and is Chair of Engagement Australia.

Professor Nyland added: “We believe this book is different from other accounts of access, as it focuses on the implications of university engagement and the social purposes of a university education.”

Copies are available at the University of Bolton library.